Ruptured Melody
by devilstrap666
Summary: Castiel left the bunker, effectively ending a decade long friendship without a plan for the road ahead. Follow Castiel as he finds a new path and learns to survive an apocalyptic world with rapidly decreasing angelic abilities.


Notes:

Welcome to my first attempt at fanfiction. I will aim to post a new chapter once every two weeks. This story will contain spoilers up to and including Season 15 Episode 03 "The Rupture". The plot of future episodes may be used in later chapters, depending on whether I can make them work with the direction I intend on taking this story in. This story will be Castiel Centric and focus on him dealing with the trust and self esteem issues currently plaguing him. While Sam and Dean will appear in this fanfic they won't appear in every chapter or indeed every other chapter. I haven't quite decided on ships yet, but I do know while there's a chance of this tale featuring a Bisexual Castiel it will not involve him paired with either Winchester brother. If you're still interested in sticking around then check out chapter one below! Feedback is always welcome.

Work Text:

"_And why does that something always seem to be you?"_

The words reverberated through Castiel's head as he stood outside the bunker trying to process the encounter he'd just shared with Dean. The Angel on autopilot as he climbed into the truck he'd been using for the past few weeks. Every instinct in his body was telling him to create as much distance between himself and the Winchesters as possible. A part of Castiel felt terrible about including Sam in that descriptor, but one Winchester came with the other and he couldn't be around Dean right now. He'd ring Sam later. Reassure him that he was okay and things between them hadn't changed.

The Angel sighed as he joined a queue of traffic, a little less than ten minutes into his journey. It was times like this that he missed his wings. Human methods of transportation could be so _slow, _especially when he was travelling by himself. The worst part of Dean's remark was that Castiel couldn't help but agree with the hunter's assessment. While he didn't regret his decision to smite Belphegor, Cas knew better than anyone the dangers of a being powered by millions of souls, there was no denying he'd made a multitude of mistakes in recent years. It had begun with his decision to work with Crowley, which had begun as an attempt to spare the Winchesters further pain, but had ultimately devolved, into an egotistical power play. Then he'd been tricked by Metatron into banishing his brethren from heaven. A decision that had not only affected the angels, but the numerous humans who had been victims of the angelic hosts rage. And finally, and arguably his biggest mistake, had been his decision to free Lucifer from the pit via possession. How had he been so foolish? How had he allowed damaged pride and a lack of self worth to influence him into freeing that monster from the cage?

Castiel sighed as his fingers tapped sub-consciously against the wheel. It felt like every time he tried to help he made it worse instead. Maybe that was his mistake. Every time they'd dealt with a crisis he'd jump into trying to help with the next. Maybe he needed to take a step back and leave dealing with the world ending crisises to other people. A part of him rebelled at the very idea. Wasn't that a form of cowardice? Leaving other people to deal with the problem? But then if all his involvement did was make things worse wasn't it better for him to leave them to it? Another sigh escaped the brunette as he considered the conundrum.

Then an idea hit him. Like a revelation from above, only Cas knew no one of worth remained up there. What if he started with a hunt? A run of the mill salt and burn the brothers tended to participate in during their down time. If he did that he'd be able to help people without the risk of screwing the world over in the process. His mind made up, Castiel continued his drive to the nearest town.

...

Several hours later, Castiel found himself sitting at a corner table of a diner sipping on coffee. While he didn't need the sustenance and actually found the brew disgusting, due to his ability to taste every individual atom, he'd learnt the importance of engaging in such human behaviours to avoid standing out. The diner itself was a small, but homely place with a black and white tiled floor, circular tables and an old fashioned juke box which sat next to him. Dean would have loved the place, especially the beautiful red head who had served him his coffee. No! He couldn't go there. Now was not the time to be thinking of Dean.

Instead, Castiel opened up a newspaper and began to search it for any signs of activity which could be Supernatural in nature. Naturally, he began with the obituaries. The Winchester's having taught him that looking into recent deaths was always a good place to start when one was actively looking for a hunt. An old woman died peacefully in her sleep, a young twenty five year old male had been stabbed outside of a local nightclub, and a mother of two had been run over. Castiel frowned at the paper. While tragic these were hardly the type of cases he was looking for. It was just as he was getting ready to give up that he came across something promising. A couple of teenagers had been found dead inside an old abandoned factory. There had been no stab wounds or other signs of physical injuries save for the fact their hair had turned white and their mouths were wide open in terror. It was as though someone, or something, had scared them to death.

Castiel downed the rest of the cup in one go while resisting the urge to grimace as he did so. It was then he stood and left the diner. He had work to do.


End file.
